


A Trip to the Garden

by fishebake



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine
Genre: Garden of Life from Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 08:16:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18796489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishebake/pseuds/fishebake





	A Trip to the Garden

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Narial](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narial/gifts).



Shikako took a long inhale of the hot air around her, squinting at Suna on the horizon. “Man, it feels like ages ago since we were last here,” she sighed.

Sasuke ignored her and proceeded down the sand dune. “You and Naruto were here last,” he corrected. “I was patrolling. And stuff.”

“Hm, you should have come with us. It was fun!”

He gave her the most incredulous look from the bottom of the sand dune. “Didn’t you technically die?”

“Let’s not focus on the little details.”

Shikako slid down the dune to join him. He didn’t even flinch when sand splashed into his hair from her skidding stop.

“You’re not going anywhere near that place again. Your brother will kill me.”

* * *

“Welcome to Suna,” Gaara said, arms folded. To those that didn’t know him, his voice was perfectly flat and his face void of emotion. To Shikako, she could hear the genuine welcome and the slight softening of his features.

“Heyo, Sparky,” Kankuro added, sliding in next to his brother. Gaara was entirely nonplussed when he leaned on his shoulder. Temari didn’t even seem the slightest bit concerned.

It was excellent progress from how they’d been when Naruto first met them, in her opinion.

“Thank you for hosting us,” Shikako murmured, bowing. Gaara was, technically, Kazekage after all. He waved it away.

“Of course. Kankuro here will escort you both to your quarters. You should be supplied with everything you need.” A flicker of a smile passed over his face. “Enjoy your stay in Suna, Sasuke, Shikako.”

* * *

“So, Sparky, Saucy boy,” Kankuro drawled as he led them through the maze of terracotta walls. Sasuke bristled a little at the nickname but didn’t say anything. “What brings you to Suna, or can we mere mortals not know?”

“Officially, we’re here to deliver some medical supplies as per our alliance,” Shikako said, hopping over what appeared to be some kind of a speed bump. “Unofficially…”

She winced imperceptibly, thinking back to the last Anbu mission. It had been… Well, the good news is that no one realized it was Konoha, and there honestly wasn’t  _ that  _ much of the landscape rearranged. Nobody got hurt either. Plus, the mission goal (and then some) had been perfectly fulfilled.

Their team was beginning to get a reputation among the other Anbu.

“Tsunade needed us out of the village for a little while,” Sasuke muttered. “Because  _ someone _ can’t keep her explosive seals to herself.”

“The explosion wasn’t that big!” Shikako defended herself. Kankuro began laughing. “Or… did that much damage.” Their guide had to stop and lean against one of the walls, wiping away tears.

“Just… just don’t pull anything here, Sparky Sparky Boom Boom,” he wheezed.

“I’m not going to cause another diplomatic incident.”

“See, the fact that you had to add ‘another’ in that statement doesn’t ease my worries at all.”

They walked for a few minutes in relative silence, Kankuro still giggling every now and then. Sasuke shot her a dirty look.  _ Why are you like this?  _ Shikako shrugged.  _ I have no idea what you’re talking about. _

“Ok, kiddos, your rooms are here. Sparky, if you’re feeling the urge to blow stuff up, please go to the training grounds, you can get directions from the staff.”

“I’m never going to live this down, am I?” Shikako asked, eyes directed towards the sky.

“Nope,” Sasuke said with the hint of a grin.

* * *

There was an official meeting with Gaara the next day, of course, at the hospital, where Shikako and Sasuke turned over the scrolls and went through the official list. Really just a formality to make sure everything promised on the list was actually there. Which it was.

Afterwards, Temari showed up to escort them around the village, took them to the market where Shikako bought probably too much - but who cares? Not her, she thought with a cackle as she shoved all her purchases into Hammerspace.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to say something, but wisely held his tongue and carried on browsing through the potted cacti.

They all ended up getting special Suna curry at a stall and showing off their purchases. Temari ended up getting caught up in Shikako’s enthusiasm and bought a small cactus for Gaara and a new set of face paints - sorry, Kankuro, manly  _ war _ paint - for the other brother.

Sasuke got a sword polishing kit and a couple books, though he refused to share the titles. Shikako wasn’t sure if she should be concerned about it or not, but hey, he was a big boy, he could read what he wanted.

As for her, Shikako had bought a variety of neat little things and promptly shoved them in hammer space - a hand carved shoji board, what appeared to be a ballpoint pen, of which she bought fifty-two, two very soft blankets made of some kind of plant based fabric, she thought, and a recipe book.

It was a very productive morning, in her opinion.

“You spent way too much,” Sasuke mumbled around a mouthful of spicy noodles.

“It’s not like I’m doing anything else with it,” Shikako defended herself, waving her chopsticks. A noodle slipped off and plummeted towards the ground. Without sparing it a glance, she caught it with her chopsticks and shoved it into her mouth with its brethren. “Might as well buy fun gifts for people.”

“You bought  _ fifty-two _ pens.”

“Two of those are for Dad.”

“And the other  _ fifty _ ?”

“Personal use.”

“That’s not concerning,” Temari muttered.

Sasuke reached over to pat her shoulder. “You get used to it.”

* * *

“So, Sparky, Gaara had a thought,” Kankuro said with a grin. Behind him, Gaara sighed heavily.

“Did he really though?”

Temari rolled her eyes. “More like Gaara offhandedly mentioned it and Kankuro ran with it.”

“I figured as much.”

Beside Shikako, Sasuke also sighed heavily. He and Gaara had near matching faces of doneness. Kankuro ignored them both and continued.

“You haven’t been to see your little garden project since you first started it, right?” Shikako blinked.

“Noo,” she said slowly. “I’ve been doing other things. You know. Ninja stuff. Top secret.”

“Great!” Kankuro clapped his hands. “Field trip time! You guys aren’t needed back in Konoha for like, a whole ‘nother week, right? Take a little detour; you should go see what we’ve been up to. It’s been a major resource.”

Shikako looked at Sasuke. Sasuke frowned. Shikako raised an eyebrow. Sasuke shook his head, barely enough to see. Shikako tilted her head and smiled, eyes wide and innocent. Sasuke groaned and threw his chopsticks down.

“Fine,” he said. “You better not make me regret this.”

“That was almost scary. Did you and Sparky just have an entire conversation using just your face muscles? Are you  _ sure _ you’re not related?”

* * *

Gelel sang to Shikako.

The music was louder the closer she became. It was warm and love and excited to see her again. The stone hanging from her neck was nearly vibrating. 

“You look happy,” Sasuke observed.

Did she? Gelel sang to her, whispered how much it had missed her, wrapping her very soul in love. “I guess I am,” she said, and then Shikako laughed and ran faster.

The Garden of Life from Death soon appeared on the horizon, a spot of green amongst the golden sands. Gelel’s song jumped in pitch the moment she laid eyes on it.

“Hello,” Shikako breathed.

Gelel sang to Shikako, and Shikako’s soul sang back.

* * *

There were farms where there had previously been desolate waste land, small houses where there had been mummified animals. The land became greener the further they traveled. There was even a river of sorts, flowing between rocky crags. 

Once the trees began to appear, though, all signs of habitation stopped. People did not go into the forest.

However, Shikako wasn’t people, so she cheerfully walked beneath the canopy. Grass seemed to spring up wherever her feet fell. Vines, bursting into bloom as they went, tentatively wrapped around her ankle, just lightly enough to make themselves known.

It was like Shikako was a tiny forest god, bringing life where she went.

The entire Garden was singing to her, crooning a melody that only she could hear. Her stone echoed the song.

“Are we going to camp in here?” Sasuke asked.

Shikako shrugged. “I don’t see why not. It’s not like we’re going to find anything better.”

“There’s the village back there,” he said, not really arguing. He took the supplies Shikako took out of hammerspace.

“I like this better.” And that was that.

* * *

When they woke up in the morning, Shikako was being cradled in a woven cluster of trees, flowers and vines draped over her like a blanket.

Sasuke wouldn’t stop laughing for a good ten minutes before he helped her free of the Garden’s loving embrace.


End file.
